Smitty sled question

So I built a sled using x country skis and it works ok but I’m wondering if there is any benefit to using wider downhill skis? And also shorter vs longer skis, any pros or cons to using shorter ones?

Just curious but besides ice fishing what else to you plan on doing on you Smutty Sled? Sounds kind of Salacious

Yes down hills work better, more surface area allows the sled to get on top of the snow a bit better. Longer + harder turning on a dime or positioning if yo need too but I prefer as long as I can without being a pain in the but for transporting.

A smutty sled sounds like more fun than a smitty sled!

Does a smutty sled talk dirty to you? “Yeah big boy, pull my leash you stud! Mmmmm, yeah, whip out that big 10-inch drill of yours and drill some big, deep holes…”

You know there are a lot of ice fishing thread titles that look like they are NSFW. “Locating the hole in a 2 man flipover.” It could be about ice fishing or it could be a bad porn title. You make the call.

Grouse

OMG Grouse, I nearly lost it at work

wider skis = more surface area = more friction. The whole point of a smitty sled is the less surface area contacting the snow/ground = less resistance = easier to pull. I think the wider skis would be a little less efficient. Would it be enough to make a noticeable difference? I’m not sure but I don’t think it’d be a significant difference.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

wider skis = more surface area = more friction. The whole point of a smitty sled is the less surface area contacting the snow/ground = less resistance = easier to pull. I think the wider skis would be a little less efficient. Would it be enough to make a noticeable difference? I’m not sure but I don’t think it’d be a significant difference.

First of all they are all good on ice and dust covered ice. You are correct to a degree but you also need loft to get on the snow vs drop through. Down hill just seem to work better in my experiences, been making smitty’s since like the early 90’s. I had CC skis and I didn’t find it as good as down hills. If all you have is CC skis go for it because it is gonna be way better than nothing. Believe it or not water skis got even better on snow but terrible on pavement.

I found water skis to be the perfect trade off for me. Enough loft to ride on deep snow with a heavy load.

I built two smitty sled bases. One with snow skis and one with water skis.

I prefer the water skis in most applications. For dry driveway or parking areas.
Simple to mount easy on and off wheels.On the water skis as they were made out of solid wood.

papaperch wrote:

I found water skis to be the perfect trade off for me.

Plus, you can pull it behind your boat in the summer, if you need the extra space.

A guy in my office is an avid skier, both alpine and nordic, and said that downhill skis are the way to go for this. XC skis are typically double cambered and require the pressure point of the skier on the center of the ski to flatten it out. Since most smitty sleds use a front and back post per ski, the pressure points will be on the wrong parts of the XC ski to flatten it out properly.

Makes sense to me and he’s bringing in an old set of downhills for me to build one. Hope this helps, good luck.

That doesn’t make sense to me. The double camber on an XC ski is useful in skiing because when you kick, your weight flexes the ski and presses that middle portion of the ski into the snow. The middle portion of the ski is where the kick wax/ski skin/fish scales are, which is what allows you to push off of the snow. When you’re gliding, you don’t want that middle portion of the ski in contact with the snow, which is why the front and rear sections of the ski are glide waxed.

I really think we’re getting a bit technical for a smitty/smutty sled, though. I’m sure there are some pros and cons to both.

zooks wrote:

A guy in my office is an avid skier, both alpine and nordic, and said that downhill skis are the way to go for this. XC skis are typically double cambered and require the pressure point of the skier on the center of the ski to flatten it out. Since most smitty sleds use a front and back post per ski, the pressure points will be on the wrong parts of the XC ski to flatten it out properly.

Makes sense to me and he’s bringing in an old set of downhills for me to build one. Hope this helps, good luck.

I think no matter what ski you use it won’t be 100% efficient because the both rely on the skier to flatten them out by putting weight at the area of the binding.

Wider skis are made to float on top of the snow and narrower skis are made to ride on hard pack. Be it xcountry or downhill, narrower skis will have less friction. The question is, do you plan to pull it in less than 6” of snow or more? I highly doubt anyone will want to pull any sled through a foot of snow.

I’d go narrow. Don’t get too caught up on x country or downhill. Mine has narrower downhill skis.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>papaperch wrote:</div>
I found water skis to be the perfect trade off for me.

Plus, you can pull it behind your boat in the summer, if you need the extra space.

Drinking at work again, huh Ralph…

X country skies = tall skinny risers to get the majority of the sled up off the snow. I have been wanting to try snow boards for the deeper snow. But water skies sound good also. I have shorter down hill skies that fit in the trunk of my car and they work well till the snow is more than 6 or 8″ deep. But my risers are only about 4.5″ tall with about 200# of gear.